1. Field of the invention
The preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to apparatuses for removing parts of packing materials surrounding motors. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for removing the stuffing box located on a piston operated downhole pump.
2. General Background
In the oil and gas industry, to facilitate the drilling of an oil well onshore or beneath the floor of a body of water, during the actual drilling of the hole, hollow sections of drill pipe are threadably connected end to end to produce the "drill string" as the hole is drilled, with the drill bit attached on the lowermost part of the drill string. The entire drill string is rotated as it is moved down the hole, and the drilling takes place in that manner. Normally for the first 10 to 20 thousand feet, casing pipe is pushed down the hole, which is a larger diameter pipe, through which the drill string circulates. This casing pipe is usually cemented within the hole, and while serving as a guide for the drill string, also prevents the drill string to be obstructed by breaking of rock formations or the like down within the hole, and maintains a clear path for the drill string.
In order to wash the drill hole out as the hole is being drilled, various types and weights of drilling mud are pumped down the drill string to be exited the drill string at the head of the bit. In doing this, the bit is continuously lubricated, maintained relatively cool, and the mud also serves as it is weighted down the hole, to help reduce the likelihood of a blow-out, and keep the equilibrium within the hole between the pressure exerted upward by possible oil or gas struck by the bit, and therefore, prevent the well from blowing.
This mud is constantly circulated down the drill hole and returned up out of the hole to be cleansed and filtered and recirculated back down the hole. This drilling mud, as stated earlier, is of various weights, and is a very expensive product for maintaining on the drill site.
In order to properly move the mud through the hole and up again, a rig pump is utilized which is basically a piston operated pump for pressurizing the mud down the hole as it is run through the pump. These pumps are in operation on a constant basis during the drilling process, and due to their constant operation, often times produce great amounts of heat during the drilling process. In order to maintain the piston relatively cool and the pump on a operational basis, a "stuffing box" surrounds the pump head, which is a type of an insulation means for maintaining the pump at a constance temperature and attempting to prevent overheating of the pump.
When, during the drilling process, the pump, at the pump head, springs a leak, or a crack occurs in the head, the valuable mud or fluid being pumped by the pump, will eventually seep into the stuffing box, and loss of mud or the like fluid will occur. Therefore, the stuffing box must be removed from the head of the pump, and the pump repaired or the head changed in order to properly maintain the flow of mud down the hole.
In the present state of the art, what now occurs on the rig at the time, is that the piston contained within the cylinder of the pump is removed manually, and a large production pipe or the like is slipped within the cylinder manually by several rig workers. The pipe or the like is then moved swiftly backwards and forward in a "battering ram" type of fashion until such time as the stuffing box is dislodged from around the pump head. This rather primitive manner of removing the stuffing box from the head of the pump is very time consuming, often taking 6 to 12 hours of round the clock of battering by workers on the rig, in order to remove the stuffing box. This loss in time also means loss in rig time due to the breakdown of the pump, loss in manpower time due to the shifting of men from their present work stations to the pump in order to work on removing the stuffing box, and overall breakdown of the function of the rig during this extended process.